Tag: Praying

There are times, when no matter how well you’ve prepared, how well you’ve estimated and planned, you will feel like Sisyphus and his boulder- watching that heavy rock tumble back down after you’ve pushed it up the mountain- and you’ll wonder if you’ll ever make it through the obstacles in your life.

And he’s doing it naked! Imagine the sunburn on those buttcheeks! Ouch!

To each person, these obstacles will look different- and the strength it takes to surmount them will differ for everyone. While these lessons and learnings are usually left up to the individual to tackle, often we will seek the comfort and understanding of our friends to help push us through.

As a witch, or even just an empath, we want to help as much as we can- influencing energies around our loved ones to bring them the peace they so desperately wish for.

However, I’ve learned that we often wish for things we’re not ready for (or don’t even want). A friend who wants to be happy and calm starts experiencing severe anxiety because they’re waiting for the next shoe to drop after you’ve provided them that peace without their knowledge. Another friend who wants to keep their job starts hating life because their heart desires for them to be doing someone completely different with their career after you’ve helped stay where they were unbeknownst to them.

Not to mention, you have the whole juxtaposition of free-will when doing spells for other people. You simply can’t make someone else do something they truly don’t want to do- and no matter how much complaining or aching one does, if they’re not ready to be happy or take action- you’ve wasted your efforts on a lame duck. Or you’ve provided them the means to be unhappy, and now you’re directly responsible for fixing it- and that’s a lot of pressure.

But he sure is cute though!

Does that mean we have to stand idly by, watching those we love suffer their life lessons, twiddling our magick fingers and waiting for people to solicit our spells before we can do anything?

Hell to the No!

I’m not sure I could, even if we were meant to, because my empathetic response is dialed up to about an 11- and unless I burn off other people’s energy, it lingers until it becomes my own. Self preservation dictates that I must also look out for me if I’m to look out for anyone else!

Before I created my spell almost a decade ago, someone would illicit a prayer, whether in person, on the internet, or on a cardboard sign next to an intersection, and I would sit with that helplessness of inaction until it ate away at me. I needed to release it, but I also needed to “do something” or my guilt would compound. This is where The Cauldron of Prayers spell was born.

The Cauldron of Prayers sounds very Harry Potterish, but it’s just a fancy name for a literal thing.

Prayers, erroneously thought of as only Christian devotions, are simply earnest hopes and wishes- and can easily be used in any form of religion or witchcraft. Though, in my opinion, we must actively do good- it’s impossible to offer help to everyone. Nor, really, are we meant to- as solving every problem can lead to more (not only for you but them), and creates an unhealthy dependency that stunts our spiritual growths. Prayer allows us to passively help without interfering or stretching ourselves too thin.

Every time a friend, a stranger, my family, or even the world, is down on their luck (or asks for a prayer), I use this spell to send healing and/or positive energy to them. I write their names, if I know them- descriptions or keywords about the individual if I don’t, and sometimes a short note about their problem on small scraps of paper. I fold the paper in half, and throw it into my cauldron where a Rose Quartz candle holder sits in the middle and a tealight (usually black) burns twice a week.

I keep a Bullet Journal with me at all times, and in it I store slips of paper to be able to write down prayers anywhere I am. They get put into The Cauldron when I arrive home, and that way, I don’t feel like I’ve missed any one in need of some extra love. If I don’t have any slips of paper, I’ll write it in my Bujo, and put it on a scrap of paper later- as I did with this one below!

A Prayer Note for a stranger who looked to be in need of love…

I don’t currently worship any deities in my practice, so my prayers are sent into the ether of magnetic magick. The thought being: if I send positivity to said person, positivity should find them- thus attracting more for them. However, I’m careful not to shape that positivity- allowing the individual to do that themselves (unless specifically asked for- like healing, strength, etc). It’s my way to allow them their free-will while also favoring their growth because they’re conquering their “issues” themselves. I don’t ask for the problem to be solved for them, I ask that they find the power in themselves to solve it. I also ask that they find the strength, or energy, they need to live the best life they want. Everything else, or how it’s applied, is up to them.

Every month, this Cauldron fills with names, descriptions, or whatever is needed in the moment. The Rose Quartz, a gift from a loved one, sends out soft but loving energy to those in The Cauldron, while the black candle absorbs any negativity surrounding their ability to achieve the results their soul aches for. This candle gets lit for an hour on Wednesdays,

The Cauldron of Prayers’ new home under my living room altar.

On the Full Moon, I take my cauldron outside, remove the Rose Quartz, and I burn the contents. This, to me, sends the fiery energy of the flames rushing toward the persons boosting their own energy, while simultaneously eliminating my need to continue carrying their burdens as my own. I scoop out the ashes and throw them away- as they no longer hold any magickal significance, and I begin the spell again for the next month.

The Cauldron of Prayers full and ready to burn under the Full Moon (these papers are blank, as I removed the actual prayers to take the picture so as to not ruin anyone’s privacy in case they could be seen)!

There are no rites to this spell, no long winded incantation, just the intention that every time I place a note into The Cauldron, and I light the candle, I am sending the energy needed to those people to bring about more positivity in their life (if they want it).

The way I see it, every little bit helps, and for me, I’d never turn down love.